France has introduced a new environmental levy on ultra-fast fashion clothing, with fees set to rise to nearly 20 euros per garment by 2030. The measure, which came into force on Tuesday, follows legislation passed by the French parliament in June and is explicitly aimed at reining in Asian e-commerce giants — primarily Shein, Temu and AliExpress — which have seen explosive growth in the French market in recent years.
Under the scheme, each clothing item receives a score based on two criteria: the volume of garments a brand places on the market each year, and the price of the item relative to the cost of repairing it — a proxy for disposability. The resulting "ecological contribution" is applied on a sliding scale. In 2026, a T-shirt will attract a two-euro fee, jeans nine euros, and a jacket 12 euros. By 2030, the levy could reach up to 19.50 euros per item, though it is capped at 50% of the product's pre-tax price. Second-hand clothing is exempt. The fee will be collected by Refashion, the French textile industry's environmental body.
The scale of the difference between targeted companies is stark: Zara brings roughly 20,000 items to market each year, while Shein offers an estimated 1.7 million. Consequently, European retailers including H&M, Zara and Primark fall below the thresholds and are not subject to the levy, a point that has drawn criticism from some observers who argue the measure disproportionately targets non-European competitors. French officials have maintained that the policy responds to documented environmental harm and unfair competition. France is also introducing a ban on advertising for ultra-fast fashion brands.
The measure has attracted pushback on several fronts. China warned in July of potential retaliation, describing the law as "discriminatory" and a violation of trade principles. The European Commission had raised questions about the legislation's compatibility with EU law, though French minister for ecological transition Mathieu Lefevre said those concerns had been "dispelled" and that no EU-level block was expected. Shein declined to comment on the levy; Temu and AliExpress did not respond to requests for comment. Shein's silence came on the same day the company was valued at 26.3 billion dollars in its long-awaited Hong Kong stock market listing.
The French measure arrives alongside a broader tightening of trade rules. A separate EU-wide three-euro levy on small parcels from China came into force on 1 July, and the French government says imports of such parcels into the EU have already fallen by 30 to 40 percent as a result. Together, the two initiatives signal a significant shift in how Europe is approaching the environmental and economic impact of cheap, high-volume online fashion.